Nathan Ellington might be short of full fitness but that will not necessarily spoil his chances of making a West Bromwich Albion debut tomorrow.

The striker, who joined Albion from Wigan Athletic this week for £3 million, is hoping to play at home to Portsmouth but his pre-season programme was disrupted by a shoulder injury and that could count against him.

Diomansy Kamara is also lacking full fitness and Bryan Robson, the Albion manager, will leave it until tomorrow morning to decide if either or both can join the squad.

"I will be looking to see how sharp Ellington is in training and how he actually feels. You can keep assessing people who have not got too many games under their belt but, for some players, it is better to play to get that sharpness and match practice."

Ellington impressed during a reserve-team match away to Aston Villa this week but the Premiership is a world away in terms of speed and quality.

The good news for Robson is that that all five Albion players who appeared in international matches in midweek will return to England free of injury.

Kanu, Kamara, Robert Earnshaw, Thomas Gaardsoe and Zoltan Gera - who was the only one to play a full 90 minutes - have all confirmed their availability.

Robson said: "Everybody is available and that includes Russell Hoult [goalkeeper], who came through another reserve game on Tuesday.

"There is only Gera, Gaardsoe and Kanu who have yet to come back into the camp after international action but they have all phoned in and said they are OK, so we have a fully-fit squad. On this occasion, I can understand Zoltan playing 90 minutes because he is captain of his country and is a big influence on the Hungary team.

"I expected him to play 90 minutes, which I have to take into consideration. Fortunately, Kamara and Earnshaw played only parts of their games and Kanu as well, I think, while Thomas didn't get used.

"It is pleasing when the international managers look at it in those terms and give players a little bit of a rest. Even if it is just 15 minutes, it means you are not draining players as much.

"It's good for the club that we had five players away on international duty. It's disruptive in terms of the weekend's game but it means the players are playing well and getting noticed, which is what I want at the club."

Hoult's return to action will provide Robson with an interesting decision to make. Chris Kirkland was superlative during the goalless draw away to Manchester City last Saturday and deserves to keep his place in the team but Hoult has been the firstchoice goalkeeper for five years.